A Tale of Two Sisters
A Tale of Two Sisters Episode Number: Season 4, Episode 1 Directed By: Ralph Hemecker Air Date: September 28, 2014 Previous Episode: There's No Place Like Home Next Episode White Out "A Tale of Two Sisters" is the first episode of Season 4 of the American fairytale/drama series Once Upon a Time, which aired on September 28, 2014. The episode introduces several characters from Frozen to the series. The episode also has the characters deal with the consequences of Emma Swan and Hook's time traveling in There's No Place Like Home. Commentators gave generally positive reviews for the premiere, with most complimenting the new characters and the new direction the series was taking; however, some felt that the series was capitalizing too much on the success of the episode's source material. Upon airing, the premiere was watched by 9.47 million viewers and attained an 18-49 rating of 3.5. This marks a significant increase in viewership and ratings from the previous season premiere. Plot 'Opening Sequence' Snowflakes glide through the title card, and snow is seen littering the forest. 'Event Chronology' The Enchanted Forest flashback with Gerda and her husband takes place five years before Anna reaches the Enchanted Forest in "White Out". The Arendelle events take place two years after the events of Frozen, before "Rocky Road" and before Anna arrives in the Enchanted Forest in "White Out", and after the events of "The Snow Queen". The Enchanted Forest flashback with Maid Marian and The Evil Queen takes place sometime after "Lacey", and immediately before the events of "Snow Drifts". The Storybrooke events take place after "There's No Place Like Home". 'In the Character's Past' The episode begins in Arendelle with Anna and Elsa's parents sailing harsh waters, preparing for the worst; they release a message in a bottle to the water, containing the truth behind their expedition, before the ship capsizes. Five years later (two years after the events of Frozen), Anna and Elsa prepare for Anna's wedding to Kristoff when Elsa finds her mother's diary, which reveals that the reason for their "business" trip had to do with Elsa's seemingly uncontrollable ice powers. Elsa feels guilty that she may be the reason for their deaths, but Anna sets out to prove it wasn't, and meets with Grand Pabbie, the Troll King, to find out where their parents had gone. He reveals that they were headed to a land called Misthaven. Later, Anna goes missing and Elsa seeks out Kristoff to help her find Anna. He reveals that she has set out to Misthaven in an effort to prove to Elsa she was not the cause of her parents demise. Kristoff reveals that there is another name for Misthaven: the Enchanted Forest. 'Storybrooke' Elsa emerges from the barn where she entered Storybrooke. Grumpy and Sleepy are driving down the road when they almost run into Elsa; she freezes the truck before impact. Emma Swan leaves the diner to apologize to Regina for breaking up her and Robin Hood — whom she inadvertently reunited with his deceased wife Marian after traveling back in time in the previous episode. Angry, she leaves to her office. Robin later talks to her that although his feelings for her were (and are) real, he made a vow to his wife and intends to keep it. Regina later makes her way to the mental hospital and releases Sidney Glass, who she has kept there since the first curse broke. She tasks him to help her turn back time to kill Marian. She reimprisons him within the Magic Mirror, promising to release him once she accomplishes her goal, to show her the exact moment she captured Marian, only to be given a visual reminder of herself as The Evil Queen. Grumpy tells Emma about the incident with Sleepy; she and Hook follow a trail of ice that Elsa left which leads to a warehouse. In order to protect herself, Elsa creates a snow monster which chases them (and others) out of the area. Emma, Hook, Robin Hood, and David Nolan try to defeat the monster in the woods, only to all get knocked unconscious. Marian also shoots an arrow at the monster, which only serves to incur its wrath. The monster then heads towards Marian, and when Regina shows up, she merely smiles when Marian asks her to help, and disappears. However, at the last second, Regina defeats the snow monster by burning it. Marian thanks Regina, with Regina welcomes her to Storybrooke. Afterwards, Regina disappears, still heartbroken, before Emma could talk to her about the recent developments. Emma uses the recent events as a way of avoiding Hook, whom she started a relationship with. Emma later tells Regina that despite her heartbreak, she will continue to make sure that everyone has a happy ending. Regina comes to a realization: everyone in Henry's book of fairytales has a happy ending except the villain(s); she then tells Sidney to find "the writer" of the book so she can make her, the villain, have the happy ending. Elsewhere, Belle and Mr. Gold prepare for their honeymoon. Mr. Gold stops by his son Neal's grave to say his goodbyes. While there, he tells Neal that he plans on undoing a lie he told to Belle and secretly give her the real dagger that holds his power. The two honeymoon in an old mansion (including recreating the waltz scene from Beauty and the Beast, complete with costumes, chandelier and music), where Mr. Gold sneaks his dagger into her purse. Later that night, Mr. Gold finds a locket sitting next to Belle's purse, and retrieves his dagger to open it. The contents revealed is a sorcerer's hat. After the snow monster is defeated, Elsa finds out about Mr. Gold's pawn shop and breaks in. She finds a necklace she remembered Anna wearing, which resurrects her plans to find Anna in Misthaven. Cast Starring *Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard *Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan *Lana Parrilla as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills *Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan/Prince James *Emilie de Ravin as Belle *Colin O'Donoghue as Hook *Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills *Michael Socha as Will Scarlet *Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold Guest Starring *Georgina Haig as Elsa *Elizabeth Lail as Anna *Scott Michael Foster as Kristoff *Sean Maguire as Robin Hood *Giancarlo Esposito as The Genie/Magic Mirror/Sidney Glass *Lee Arenberg as Grumpy/Leroy *Christie Laing as Maid Marian *Pascale Hutton as Queen Gerda *John Rhys-Davies as Grand Pabbie *Jason Burkart as Little John *Faustino di Bauda as Sleepy/Walter *Raphael Alejandro as Roland Trivia Production Notes= *The title card features a snowfall. *The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on July 7, 2014. *During a premiere event, the show's cast and crew got together to watch the episode. Of everyone who showed up, fellow Once Upon a Time in Wonderland star Sophie Lowe also attended the screening. *The computer-generated opening shot with Gerda's ship being tossed about by the waves on the stormy sea, is later reused for the the opening scene with young Killian Jones and his father in "Swan Song". *This is the fourth time that an episode ended with a flashback, after "The Doctor", "New York City Serenade", and "It's Not Easy Being Green". *During filming of this episode, Jack—the reindeer who portrays Sven—spat on Georgina Haig. *Mark Goldman, the editor of Once Upon a Time, used sounds he made himself as a temporary voice for Sven during the editing of this episode. They tried to use real sound effects and reindeer sounds instead, but they were never as good or funny, so the editor's voice was kept, and he ended up voicing Sven for the rest of the season. *Anna says to Elsa that Kristoff cut his hair. In the Disney movie Frozen, Kristoff has longer hair. Scott Michael Foster was originally fitted with a wig because his real hair was too short. However, the wig did not work well, so beginning in July 2014, his hair has been continually grown out and dyed blonde for the role. *The word "civitas" is engraved over the main entrance to the mayor's office. In Ancient Rome, this word referred to the whole body of members of any given state. It was frequently used by the Roman writers to express the condition of a Roman citizen as distinguished from those who were not Roman citizens. In "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree", the word "magister" (Latin for "master" or "teacher") is written above the door frame of the main room of the office. Magister was a title of the Middle Ages, given to a person in authority, or to someone having a license from a university to teach philosophy and the liberal arts. It was also a title given to several positions of authority in Ancient Rome, such as Magister officiorum, which literally means "master of offices". *To enter the psychiatric ward, Regina types the password 815. In "The Dark Swan", Henry reveals that Regina uses his birthday as the password, meaning he was born on August 15, 2001. |-|Goofs= *In a newspaper article about a campaign to encourage people to spend more money in their local shops, the last paragraph refers to money as British pounds, not dollars. However, another sum correctly uses dollars. |-|Other Notes= FILMING LOCATIONS *Gerda's ship is a redressed version of the set used for the Jolly Roger's deck. *The set used for the scene in the Arendelle Castle tower where Anna tries on the wedding dress, also doubles as Rapunzel's Tower in "The Tower", and the dungeon where Rumplestiltskin tortures Robin Hood in "Lacey". *The scene in the Storybrooke Graveyard was filmed in a real graveyard, located in North Vancouver. *The scene where David, Emma, Hook, Little John, Regina and "Marian" face off against Elsa's snow monster in the forest, was filmed in Vancouver's Stanley Park.